Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, Citizen Security, and Peace Diosdado Cabello claimed that far-right opposition politician María Corina Machado is behind an online campaign to exploit the media coverage of the custodial death of Víctor Hugo Quero Navas, currently being investigated by the Attorney General’s Office.
Cabello made this comment on Wednesday, May 13, on his television program Con El Mazo Dando.
Cabello said that Machado is behind a “media campaign” to exploit the sorrow of Carmen Navas, the mother of Víctor Hugo Quero Navas. “Through Claudia Macero, she paid two social media services to promote the narrative that Víctor Hugo had been murdered,” he said. “One of the groups is based in Panama, which charged $78,000 to promote the content between May 7 and 9. The other one is in Costa Rica, which charged $39,700 for the campaign.”
“María Corina Machado shows no interest in human well-being, but only in her political business,” he stated, adding that Machado had never before spoken about Carmen Navas and her son. “Her first post on the subject was on May 8, that is, last week.”
He called Machado’s actions “political opportunism” and underscored that their main intention is to try to benefit politically from unfortunate situations.
He added that this type of digital operation seeks to manipulate public opinion by investing large sums of money in propaganda.
Venezuela’s Attorney General Announces Investigation Into Custodial Death of Detainee
In his statements, Minister Cabello referred to the case of Víctor Hugo Quero Navas, who had been arrested on January 3, 2025. He was pronounced dead on July 24, 2025, after having been transferred to the Dr Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital, following an upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage and acute febrile syndrome.
According to Quero Navas’ mother, the penitentiary authorities had misinformed her about her son’s whereabouts. Since February 2026, videos have been circulating on social media featuring Carmen Navas, 81, who claims that she went to the El Rodeo I prison, on the outskirts of Guatire, Miranda state, six times. She claimed that the authorities had told her that her son was not there, even though the courts said otherwise. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Penitentiary Services stated that the burial services of Quero Navas had been conducted by the authorities because his family members could not be located.
Following the release of the statement by the Ministry of Penitentiary Services, the Office of the Ombudsperson, led by Eglée González Lobato, issued a statement noting that “it is imperative that the relevant authorities order a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation to clarify the facts, determine who is responsible, and ensure justice is served.”
On May 7, the Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into the case.
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